


Rising Moon

by Bellicosi



Category: The Wrath and the Dawn Series - Renée Ahdieh
Genre: Dancing, F/M, Fluff, Fruit Fight, Wedding Planning, Weddings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-24
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-03-09 01:12:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13470570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bellicosi/pseuds/Bellicosi
Summary: Shahrzad helps Despina plan her wedding to Jalal, Khalid dances with Shahrzad, Yasmine visits Khorasan and meets Tariq, Shahrzad tells Khalid of her pregnancy on the first anniversary of their wedding, and plenty of shameless fluff.





	1. Just one boy and one girl

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thebluemartini](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebluemartini/gifts).



Shahrzad rubbed at her eyes. Since Despina had asked her to help plan her upcoming wedding to Jalal, she hadn’t gotten a moment’s rest. Which meant she hadn’t gotten a single night with Khalid. The wedding ceremonies had finally ended, and Shahrzad was now back in the comfort of her shared room with Khalid, able to get a night's sleep at last.

Things had escalated quickly upon their return to Khorasan. Jalal hadn’t wasted a moment’s time asking Despina to marry him. And she hadn’t wasted a moment saying yes. Shahrzad was happy for them, but she couldn’t help feeling a little sad as well. She had Khalid, and Despina had Jalal, but who was there for Tariq and Irsa? Tariq’s heart was broken, almost beyond repair. First her, then Rahim. And Irsa had nightmares more frequently than ever. She would often cry after she awoke, and Tariq and Shahrzad would both be there for her.

“You’re thinking something negative,” Khalid said from behind her. He must have just come in, since she hadn't sensed his presence before. As always, her heart quickened and her breathing picked up. She turned and tilted her head up at him. He was leaning against the wall, studying her. Moonlight streamed in, casting his face in pale, silvery light.

Even after all this time, Shahrzad would never get over how striking he looked. How absolutely perfect. Some might say the scar ruined his looks, but she thought it completed him. She got up and walked over to him, embracing him and snuggling against his warm chest. “I don’t see why Despina wants me to help her plan,” She murmured. “She’s the one with the perfect fashion and organization senses.”

“Perhaps she just can’t resist the charm of your company,” Khalid whispered in her ear, his nearness heightening her senses.

Shahrzad rolled her eyes. “More like she can’t resist a chance to make me miserable.” She muttered. As soon as she said the words, she regretted them. Though she meant the comment in jest, Khalid stiffened. Wincing, Shahrzad disentangled herself from him and looked up into his amber eyes. Emotion churned in their depths like a fiery storm. She lightly placed a finger against his cool lips. “What she did in Amardha was to help me, Khalid. She never hurt me. On the contrary, I would have strangled her if given the chance.” With a smile, Shahrzad recalled the events that led to her escape of Parthia. Despina had been infuriating, but her actions had been necessary. Shahrzad's smile, however, quickly evaporated when she saw the pained expression on her husband’s face.

“I couldn’t be there,” He said against her finger. “Someone else brought you back because I couldn’t save you. Despina and Vikander had to step in because I was unable to.” He paused, shuddering, but continued before Shahrzad could get in a word otherwise. “The Sultan hurt you because of me, Shazi, and I couldn’t even-”

Shahrzad shook her head. “You’re more emotional than Irsa is now,” She teased softly, even though she felt a stab of pain at the thought of her poor sister. “What happened to you being cold and aloof like the camel Tariq described you as?”

Khalid’s eyebrows rose. “Tariq described me as what?”

Shahrzad laughed. “The point is, you’ve softened,” She said, her own eyes softening as she gazed up at him from underneath her lashes.

Khalid smiled at her knowingly before he slanted his mouth over hers and pressed her against him.


	2. Show Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took so long!

"Despina, you look fine," Shahrzad told her in affectionate bemusement. Despina was unusually anxious and whiny, finding fault with every little thing, from the food to the music preparations to her clothes. In truth, the formal marriage ceremony between her and Jalal had been completed this morning, but the real fun had yet to begin. Since Khalid and Shahrzad's wedding had been rigidly formal, Despina and Jalal had promised to more than make up for the lost fun at their wedding. Knowing both of them, Shahrzad knew the fun they had planned would be phenomenal.

"Do you think it too scandalous of a garment?" Despina persisted, gesturing at herself in the ivory silk clothing. "It's very comfortable and does not trap heat like the other dresses, but it shows more than I'm used to showing."

Shahrzad rolled her eyes. "I'm sure the kingdom of Khorasan will survive if you wear a slightly racier dress than you are used to. Especially if it is comfortable,"

"But do you think the men will freak?"

"Oh yes, the superior powers forbid a girl from wearing something that might arouse the wicked beast of lust in men," Shahrzad said, and the two friends erupted in laughter.

“Uh, Shazi…” Irsa said, tentatively peeking her head in. 

Shahrzad swiveled her head around. “Yes, Irsa?”

“You guys might want to come see this…”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“WHAT IS GOING ON? JALAL Al-KHOURY?” Despina bellowed as she stood at the door, hands on her hips, glaring furiously. 

“TARIQ IMRAN AL-ZIYAD!” Shahrzad cried as a very guilty looking Tariq stepped out from behind a pillar, holding four grapes in his left hand sheepishly. She turned away from him. “KHALID IBN AL-RASHID! What are you doing?!”

Khalid hastily wiped at the pomegranate juice running down his sharp chin. “We may have gotten slightly carried away,” He admitted. 

Tariq, Khalid and Jalal stood in the middle of the hall leading towards the outside venue where the festivities were to be held. Their clothes, luckily, were not what they were to wear at the party; they were plain and loose fitting and, Despina and Shahrzad noted with bemused irritation, stained with various colors from the fruits they had been throwing at each other. 

Despina shook her head in exasperation, clutching her shawl tighter around her. "I tell you three to become friends and this is what happens?"

Jalal laughed and winked. "It started as a harmless challenge," He said. "Khalid kind of confronted Tariq about the camel comment."

Despina moaned in frustration, pinching the bridge of her nose. Jalal strolled over to her, putting a proprietary arm around her waist. 

"We'll clean up now, we promise," Khalid said, smiling a little. Shahrzad huffed in response, but secretly, she was delighted that they had started to bond more. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the time Khalid, Tariq, and Jalal's mess had been cleaned up, Despina had finally gotten dressed and was ready to go. Shahrzad beamed when Despina came out of the dressing room.

“The dress is stunning on you,” She said sincerely.

“Thanks, Brat Calipha,” Despina replied, but her usual snark was tampered by nervousness. 

Jalal chose this precise moment to walk over, smiling smugly as he did so. He had dressed simply, but elegantly, with a silk sash tied around his waist. “You look positively charming,” He told Despina as he raised her hand to his lips. With a nod and smile of greeting at Shahrzad, Jalal linked his arm with Despina’s, and the two of them strolled towards where the festivities were occurring.

Shahrzad combed a hand through her hair, suddenly feeling a little nervous herself. This may be Jalal and Despina’s special day, but, in a way, it seemed to also be celebrating her and Khalid. They had never had something like this before. They’d had plenty a formal occasion, but nothing near this uninhibited, this joyous.

“Don’t worry,” Khalid’s cool voice whispered in her ear as his hand wrapped around her slim waist. “The party will be perfect,”

“A bold claim to make,” Shahrzad murmured. “What if another fruit fight occurs? What if I get into another sword match with Jalal? What if-“

“It will be perfect, Shazi,” Khalid interrupted, “because you will be by my side, where you belong, and we will watch as, for once, everything is beautiful and right in the universe,”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It started off charmingly, and both Despina and Shahrzad relaxed as they ate spiced meats, roasted vegetables, fried rice, and other delicious dishes while chatting with Jalal, Khalid, Irsa, and Tariq. Tariq had gradually become more at ease among the company of Khalid and Jalal, and Irsa was genuinely smiling for a change. Plenty of Khalid’s subjects came to pay their respects and compliments, and he handled it all gracefully. 

They had gotten back onto the subject of the men’s earlier fruit fight after talking about the reformations taking place in Parthia. “What, honestly, possessed the three of you grown idiots to start such a thing?” Despina shrieked for perhaps the seventh time that evening. She turned to her new husband. “If I had known you were capable of such complete lunacy, I’d have reconsidered our wedding arrangements!” 

Jalal laughed and plucked a grape from its stem. “Well, it’s too late now.”

Despina huffed, but there was a smile curling her plump lips. “I’m sure our dear Calipha could find some way to annul the marriage if I asked her to,” She said, glancing slyly over at Shahrzad. 

“Shazi’s taking her husband’s complete lunacy very well,” Jalal noted. “Why can’t you, my dear?”

Shahrzad rolled her eyes. “I’m taking it well because I trust that it was a momentary lapse in judgment,” She said, a mock warning in her voice as she stared at Khalid with her eyebrows raised. 

“I assure you, it was,” Khalid responded smoothly. 

“Are you all just going to sit here all night?” Irsa interjected, smiling fondly at them all. “You won’t even bother to get up and dance?” 

“Indeed,” Tariq said. “Shazi, you remember this melody?” He asked, tilting his head toward the musicians.

Shahrzad smiled in rueful recollection. “It was with this melody I was first taught to dance,” She told Khalid.

Khalid raised an eyebrow in response. Tariq looked at Shahrzad meaningfully, the question plain on his face. Shahrzad glanced at Khalid, but he was now talking with Irsa, and surely, she thought, he wouldn't mind. Turning back, she grinned in anticipation and extended her hand to Tariq.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Khalid watched as Shahrzad twirled and leaped to the music with Tariq, laughing as she did so. She was wondrously graceful, soaring and slicing through the air, confident and uninhibited. He himself had not danced ever since his first wife had died. But now, watching her dance with the boy that still very much loved her, even if she could not see it, made his heart ache with slight jealousy and a desire to dance once more. 

Taking one last drink from his golden cup, he prepared to ask as the song ended and Tariq led Shahrzad back to the table to claps and cheers. 

“My, my, that was excellent,” Jalal said, chortling. “I’ve never seen you dance, Shazi.”

Shahrzad laughed, casting a mirthful look at Khalid. “This camel has never invited me to,” She said, using Tariq’s own moniker for her husband.

Khalid pressed his lips together. He had been readying himself to ask Shahrzad moments before, but now a flood of doubt encased him. “I have not had occasion to dance for some time. I am probably in no shape to-” He began, but Despina cut him off.

“You dance fine, Khalid. Far better than this one over here,” She said, jerking her head at Jalal. “He seems to think that dancing is like swordplay.”

As Jalal and Despina engaged in another verbal match, Shahrzad turned back to Khalid, raising her eyebrows. “It won’t be so bad,” She persisted. “Even if it is so, you’re the Caliph, no one will ever tell you that your dancing is atrocious,”

“It is true,” Vikander, the Rajput, rumbled from where he had been standing guard behind them, silent and watchful as ever. “He is royalty, he has to be able to dance. And indeed, his movements are far more appealing than those of Captain al-Khoury’s.”

Shahrzad looked at her husband half-pleadingly. “Please, Khalid? Show me,” She said, just as a slow, sweet song started. 

Khalid smiled and took her hand in his, leaning close so that his lips brushed her ear. "Who am I to deny my Calipha?" He murmured, and led her onto the dance floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm splitting the dance into two parts, so the rest of it is in the third chapter


End file.
